


Beloved

by Balshumet



Series: Stand Alone Stories [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Adorable Smols, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Identity Issues, Medical Abuse, Original Character Death(s), That sounds much worse than it is?, There is also a lot of cuteness, Tragedy/Comedy, cloning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7255462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Balshumet/pseuds/Balshumet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vlad set out to make the perfect clone. He would be just like Daniel in every way, so it would be like he had the boy in his grasps. It was too bad he was nothing like he was supposed to be. But that was alright, he was perfect anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He Was An Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> Continuing the process of transferring my fanfics onto AO3...

The room was bright. That's what he remembered first. Overly bright, lit by the unforgiving iridescents hovering above his, _my_ …What was the word for it again? He had lapses like that. It was only fair, he had to learn everything from scratch, and so fast too. But he had to learn it, because, his, _my_ , what was it… _Daddy_ …Yes. _He_ wanted him to, and he loved him. Daddy had said so. And he was sure he loved him back, because it was the only truth he had ever known. He didn't know much, that's why he was always learning, but he knew;as if it was the only thing he had known since his first breath that _this_ was true. Daddy loved him, and he loved Daddy back.

Vlad watched with detached interest as the wriggling infant before him crawled towards the side of his cold metal playpen. It made his way, slow and stumbling to the where he was standing, before lifting its hands up. It obviously wanted attention, affection. Vlad resisted the urge to sneer; he didn't have time for that at the moment. _Besides, the little buggers have a habit of melting when they are this small._ He reasoned. No point in getting attached when he wasn't sure it would make it over the next couple of days. He had learned that lesson the hard way after the first few attempts. Vlad walked away from the playpen, and over to the computer console a little ways off. Far enough so that he wouldn't compromise the readings, but close enough to intervene if something went wrong. The clones also had a habit of hurting themselves. _And not always accidentally either._ Vlad mused before starting up the machine.

He heard something loud in the bright room. Jarring and echoing all over his little world. And where had Daddy gone? He had looked away only for a moment, when he had lost his balance, and when he looked back, Daddy was already gone. Now there was this noise, and he was…he didn't know the word, but it didn't matter. He was, whatever this bad feeling was, and he wanted Daddy to make it better. He started to cry; Daddy always came when he cried, even if he didn't pick him up like he wanted, just seeing Daddy would make it better.

Vlad frowned as he heard the infant crying from his position at the computer. Undoubtedly, the sound of the machine starting had startled it, but _still_ he hated the sound. Infant cries were grating and loud, as if they were programmed just to annoy him. He shrugged when something he read about humans being genetically programmed to find baby cries obnoxious floated to the front of his mind. _It doesn't matter; this'll be over soon enough._ He tapped through the next few screens on his display a little more rapidly than before.

By all accounts, this clone was doing far better than he ever expected. There was no signs of DNA degradation, it was growing and thriving, it was superbly attached to his person, and to top it all off, it had none of self-destructive qualities that had caused him much trouble with the other ones. He winced as the cries took on a desperate quality, and he heard the clone make some incoherent babbling sounds of distress. Unfortunately, despite all of that good, it was still an annoying little brat at the moment. _No matter. With the accelerated growth pattern I inserted into its genome, that problem should solve itself in a matter of days._ Vlad heard it cry even louder if possible, and was just about to go over and calm it down, when a familiar _swish_ came from the front part of the lab.

"God damn it Plasmius, what is that infernal racket?" Skulker hovered over to where Vlad was standing, hands placed firmly on either side of his head. He landed next to Vlad and peered over at the console.

"The clone. It's crying." Vlad answered absentmindedly. He needed to activate the currently dormant section of the clone's DNA. If he didn't it would only grow at normal rate, and he, under no circumstances, was going to deal with an infant for longer than necessary.

"Well shut it up then!" Skulker growled and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why is it making that noise anyway? Is it hungry or something?"

"Your concern is touching Skulker." Vlad said dryly. "No it's not hungry, or cold or something physical like that. I believe the sound of the machine frightened it." Vlad tapped a few more things on the keyboard to bring out the tools needed to activate its genes.

"Well, why don't you go over there and…I don't know, calm the little pup down?" Skulker glanced over to the metal pen where the clone was being held. Several pointy tools had come down from the ceiling right above it.

Right when the tools came into the line of sight of the clone, it stopped crying.

Skulker heaved a sigh of relief. _At least the thing has stopped making-_

He heard something coming towards the top of his world. It wasn't like the loud sound from before, but even though it was quieter it had the same growl feeling. He looked up, leaning back so far that he fell. He could see them now, little claws with… the feeling of jagged that he remembered. That feeling was bad, and he didn't like it. They kept coming closer, and closer and he couldn't stop them. He didn't want the jagged feeling, the one that went everywhere. He gasped as it dropped over the top of his world, and let out the biggest scream he could muster.

"Plasmius!" Skulker glared over at where Vlad was standing. "What in the world are you doing to that creature? It sounds like you are killing it." The infant was screaming at this point instead of crying, and it was driving him nuts.

"I'm doing no such thing." Vlad grimaced when the clone let out another large scream. "I haven't even touched it yet. I'm not sure what the problem is, but the faster I finish this, the sooner it'll stop crying." Vlad tapped out a few more keystrokes, and the machines halted their descent.

They whirled in a circle into position over the clone, before powering up. They took up space on the four corners of the metal pen, before charging the tips to a bright blue-green.

"By the way Skulker," Vlad reached over and held out a pair of goggles, "you might want to put these on."

Skulker snatched the goggles out of Vlad's hand, in a fit of pique. _At least the sounds of the machines are drowning out the whelp's whining._ He got them settled on his face, just as the first machine fired.

It let out a high whine, as the formerly glowing tip turned into a laser. The light landed on one of the clone's limbs. The other three lasers whirled to life, landing on the arms and remaining leg of the clone. The whine picked up in pitch and volume for a few seconds, before a final large flash emanated from the fours lasers. They suddenly shut down, and began retracting into the ceiling. Underneath all of the whirling from the machines retracting, the clone was still crying.

Vlad removed his goggles, and brought up a screen for a new internal scan. The computer let out a small ping as the new data filed into the hard drive. Vlad began moving through the data. _Good, looks like they are active._

"What did all that just accomplish, other than make the little thing cry more?" Skulker removed the borrowed goggles from his head and tossed them back at Vlad.

Vlad caught them, and enlarged the screen he was currently looking at. "Nanites." Vlad stepped further to the right, to give Skulker a better view. "I inserted them into the clone soon after it was finished forming. They are supposed to help keep its DNA stable, among other things. One of their secondary functions is to activate inserted sections of DNA inside its genome. For example, I added this," Vlad paused and pointed to a now highlighted section of DNA, "to the clone's DNA. It's a code for an accelerated growth phase. It basically removes the usual breaks from the growth process, telling the clone's body to grow unimpeded until it reaches the physical age of six. After that, it will grow faster than average, but much slower than before, until it reaches around 14 years of age. Of course all of these ages are marked by bone growth, as compared to the markers inside Daniel's own body. It should be full grown, of sorts, in about a month, if it doesn't try to melt first." Vlad finished up his explanation with a tap of his foot.

That was the thing about clones, if he could get them to form at all; they tried to melt during the first growth phase. Still, he had taken pains to avoid that problem with this one. The changes he'd made to the formation process, plus the high level nutrient supplements he'd been giving it, should avoid any energy shortfalls that resulted in melting. Finally, the Nanites would stop any small changes that would lead to degradation, and alert him to any big ones he'd have to head off himself. All and all, this should be a much more successful endeavor than the last… _27 tries._ He was a determined man, but after all of these failures, Vlad was beginning to think this was an impossibility.

Skulker narrowed his eyes at the highlighted section of proteins on the screen. "So how does this not cause it to age out of control? I mean, it causes accelerated growth right, so what doesn't it just keep going until it reaches the end of the clone's life span?" Skulker walked closer to the screen. He wasn't much for biology, unlike his employer. He was much more adapt at technology and programming of all types, still, he knew enough to know this should be tricky. Honestly, he didn't know why his employer was attempting to clone the ghost child. It would be so much simpler to either manipulate the boy into an alliance, as he usually did, or destroy Phantom if he refused to comply. Then again, humans confused him, because Phantom didn't seem interested in allying with the only other half ghost on the planet. It had to be human nature doing it, because ghosts were never this illogical. Skulker was so lost in his own musings; he almost missed Vlad's reply. "What?" He had just caught the tail end of the reply, so it warranted being repeated.

"I said, the specific genes are programmed to turn off, after three days, _or_ if the ends of the telomeres inside the DNA reach a certain length before that. In any case, I didn't know you had such an interest in biology Skulker."

Skulker grunted and walked away from the console screen. "I do not. I just remember how frustrated you were when the last clone died."

"Melted, more like ceased to exist. These things aren't really people anyway; they are barely even alive in most cases. However, it seems this one should be the exception to that rule so far." Vlad corrected.

"Whatever Plasmius, I'm not here to comment on your little science experiments anyway."

"Ah that's right, did you find the information I asked for?" Vlad began shutting down the computer, it was a separate system from his main one, having an external power supply backed up on several generators. It had all of his data on the current clone experiments after all, and he needed it well protected _and_ hidden.

Skulker grimaced as the clone let out another cry, this time significantly more feeble than before. "I'd be happy to share, as long as you make that little creature shut up."

Vlad glanced over behind him towards the metal playpen. "It's _still_ crying?" Vlad frowned and stalked over to the pen, completely put out at having to stop his plans over a little noise. He had figured it would have worked out all of its energy and stopped by now. He leaned over the edge of the playpen, and looked inside.

He didn't understand what had happened. One minute he had been lying on his back, as the jagged feeling things came towards him, and the next there was this awful sound and light. It was so bright, it made the normal lights seem like it was the dark and from the warm place he had been before this. He had cried and cried, but his Daddy hadn't come for him. Then the lights had stopped, and he had felt…something new. Not like the jagged feeling, it wasn't a bad one, it was just _new_ and he was tired of learning new things today. He was just tired period. He tried to scream again, but all that came out was a small whining sound. His…noise maker must be tired too. All of a sudden, two strong arms lifted him up, and something was rubbing his back. He gripped the front of what was holding him, and whined some more.

Vlad patted the clone's back with a look of disdain. All that crying had the little infant covered with tears and mucus, and its determined grip was smearing it all over him. He silently thanked the fact this particular part of its life would be over soon, and rubbed what he hoped were soothing circles on its back. After a few more minutes, its cries turned into small hiccups combined with whining, and Vlad was able to relax its surprising steely hold on his lab coat. He shifted it in his arms and turned back towards to Skulker. "I'll be out in a second, let me set it back down. You can wait for me in the front part of the lab." Vlad said with a small wave.

Skulker rolled his eyes and walked back towards the ghost portal. It was in the front of the lab, and its green light made an easy beacon to navigate the sometimes dizzyingly large subterranean complex that was Vlad's lab.

After Skulker left, Vlad refocused his efforts on getting the clone to release his coat, and settle down again. He frowned when further patting didn't seem to be doing the trick. _Apparently, it was more upset than I thought._ Vlad shifted the clone a little more in his arms, so he could get a better look at it. There were no obvious marks, so that ruled out burns from the laser. And other than its red puffy face from all the crying, it seemed to be in good shape. So he couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.

He could finally feel the warm from the arms holding him, and it was calming him down. He opened his eyes, and looked around. He wasn't in his world; he was above it. He looked further up, and saw Daddy staring back. He felt the rest of his bad feelings run away at the sight of his Daddy, like they always did. He was safe now, of course he was, Daddy had come for him. He always did.

Vlad sighed when the clone finally stopped crying or whining or whimpering or any other irritating sound like that. He looked down towards the playpen and walked around to the backside. There was a small switch, a few inches from the floor. He tapped it with the toe of his boot, and the metal box before him shuddered.

Its corners slid down, lifting it off of the ground. Two of its walls became slotted, and half of the slotted walls slid down to join the corners now three feet off the ground, to add stability. With the base elevated, and the walls on two sides slotted, it looked like a particularly ugly crib instead of a playpen.

Vlad leaned over the side of the playpen turned crib, and adjusted the pillows and blanket into the semi-resemblance of a bed. He moved the infant in his arms as he worked, humming a happy tune at the current success of this cloning project. Having finished with the makeshift bedding, Vlad leaned over further to set the clone inside for a, hopefully, long nap. He couldn't beat down his surprise when the clone stubbornly clung to his lab coat anyway. Now more than a little annoyed, he moved one of his arms to pry its fingers off when he noticed its stare.

He wasn't upset any more, and he could see the soft blues of his world so close now. But Daddy was holding him, and it was what he had wanted to begin with. He didn't want to let go now ! He reached up and grabbed onto the white of the coat harder. His Daddy looked down at him, and the warm he remembered had to be love came back.

Vlad stopped, hand half way between the crib and prying the clone's hand off, a completely aborted motion after he got a good look at the infant. Once he wasn't crying or some such other annoying thing, it was amazingly cute. It reminded him of the few baby pictures the Fentons had sent of Daniel over the years. He heard it coo at him and reach for his face. Unfortunately, as far he could tell, it had no intention of releasing him any time soon, and the look it was giving him…He didn't know much about what love looked like anymore, but he'd bet his fortune that's the look it was giving him now.

He moved it higher in his arms, and it cooed louder, apparently satisfied with the new position. Vlad looked down at the cold metal crib and then back at the clone. Something like apprehension settled into his stomach at the thought of setting the clone down, he had just gotten it to stop crying after all. Vlad looked around and saw one of the few comfortable chairs in the lab. He had moved a few down here over the last couple of weeks as his cloning attempts took up more and more time. Now, it was looking entirely too inviting and his arms were getting tired. With only a moment more spared for indecision,  
Vlad made his way over to the comfy arm chair. He settled back into the seat, and took a deep breath. The clone hadn't melted yet, a lot of them did within the first few minutes after the Nanites were turned on, and so it was a good sign. He looked down when an especially loud happy cry from the clone got his attention.

He hadn't expected Daddy to still be holding him. He never did this long, but he was too happy to care. He let out a happy squeal and kicked his legs.

Vlad chuckled at the clone's obviously excited antics. "Alright you, calm down. A few minutes ago, you were exhausted, now you want to play hm?" He placed the clone against his shoulder and patted its back. That always sent the thing to sleep before, and he was sure it would work now. Vlad felt a small smile of triumph creep onto his face as, after a few minutes, the excited cooing and kicks slowed down. He heard the clone let out a large yawn, and begin to settle against him sleepily. Vlad settled it back into his arms and rocked it. _That should send it to sleep._ Vlad mused. He watched as its eyes closed, despite some determined effort from the small infant. _Just as stubborn as Daniel. Good._ Vlad began to get up, when the clone shifted in his arms, snuggling further in his grasp and leaning against his chest.

He couldn't get up without waking it now, and despite the fact he was sure he could get it back to sleep easily at this point, for some reason he just didn't want to wake it up. It might just be a particularly well cloned ball of ectoplasm at the moment, _without a few more modifications_ , Vlad thought, but it was still rather cute. _And well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just hold it for a few minutes._ Vlad settled back in the arm chair, and hefted the clone closer. He heard it let out a small sigh, and he couldn't help but smile at it. _A very cute ball of ectoplasm indeed._

Skulker practically stomped over to the entrance to the current rear part of the lab. He had no idea what was taking his employer so much time, but he had better things to do than wait for him to get around to talking to him. He was about to demand Plasmius get on with it, when he noticed his employer holding the whelp in his arms. It wasn't where he was sitting or what he was doing that made him pause. It was the look on his face. Plasmius rarely looked so relaxed or at peace. _Maybe just once,_ Skulker reasoned, _it can wait._ He disappeared over towards the ghost portal, determining after that sight to just come back later.

 

* * *

 

"Daddy!"

Vlad smiled down at the clone sitting a few feet from his private study's desk. It had, over the last 24 hours, grown from a helpless crying infant, of six months, into a toddler of about two. _Ah, the wonders of modern science._ Vlad was under the impression all children should come with an accelerate button of sorts. He was about to turn back to his work, when another loud exclamation got his attention. "Yes I see you." Vlad rolled his eyes, as the clone toddled over to his pants leg and tugged.

He wanted attention. He didn't like when Daddy ignored him for whatever he did at that big table. He walked back over to his play area, and picked up his page. The first time he had called out, Daddy hadn't even noticed the page. Maybe if he brought it with him this time…

Vlad sighed when another insistent tug broke his concentration again. "D27, did I not tell you to sit over there?" He looked down his nose at the little clone currently excitedly waving something at him. The clone didn't look at all convinced to move, _the stubborn thing,_ so Vlad was forced to pick it up to get some peace. He stood up to walk back over to the clone's play area, when the piece of paper it was holding was unceremoniously shoved into his face. He frowned "What is this?" He held it in his left hand, as he balanced the small toddler on his hip.

"I made it."

"Yes I know D27 that is not what I asked you." Vlad chided.

"Oh." He scrunched his face, trying to think of the right word for what he was bringing. It was obviously for Daddy, so he hadn't thought about what to call it.

While the clone was lost in his musing, Vlad walked over to the play area and set both him and the paper back down on the floor. "Now D27, Daddy is busy working. I need you to sit quietly over here while I work. I promise we can play later alright?" Vlad didn't wait for a response, already walking back to his seat to continue working. It didn't really matter what the clone wanted, he had better things to do at the moment than baby-sit. Really, the only reason he was even in the same room with him, was the current growth spurt it was having. It could lead to serious instability, and if he wasn't close, he couldn't prevent any melting mishaps. While the inserted growth phase had its drawbacks, like the increased possibility of instability, the many benefits included not having to deal with a small aggravating child for more than a few days. And in Vlad's opinion, it was more than worth having to start over or tweak once or twice.

He settled back into his spot on the floor, still trying to think of a name for what he wanted to bring Daddy. Daddy wouldn't accept it without a name, so he had to think of one. He puzzled and thought until his thinker was sore. He rubbed his head and looked around the room. Then something got his attention. "What that?" He asked while pointing to something hanging on the wall.

Vlad looked up towards the clone, and followed its little fingers till his gaze met with the painting on the wall. "That, is a painting D27. That specific painting is by Van Gogh. It's called _Bridge_." Vlad supplied while signing a few more documents. "Now let me work." He waved a dismissive hand through the air, and focused back on the documents in front of him. Not one to be ignored, the little clone was soon tugging on his pants leg again. _I'm beginning to wonder why it is I want children anyway._ Vlad noted sarcastically before looking down at the creature tugging on his leg.

He had just figured out what to call his…what was the word, gift. Yes that was it! He would call his gift painting. His Daddy already liked those things, so there was no way this wouldn't work. He held it out in front of him when his Daddy looked down. "Painting." He said happily.

Vlad raised an eyebrow at the piece of paper being held out towards him. Now that he was actually looking at it, he could see it was one of those silly childish drawing kids made, the ones overly enthused parents hung on refrigerators. _But-_ "Why in the world are you calling it a painting?" Vlad voiced the tail end of his thoughts.

He pouted, wilted by the name not working at all. "For you." He tried to hold it a little higher. _Didn't Daddy like it?_   He thought more than a little upset.

Vlad picked up the picture and looked it over. He had no idea what it was supposed to be, that's why he had asked in the first place. When he glanced back down, the clone looked close to tears. _What in the world is its problem?_ He set the picture down onto his desk and pulled the little clone onto his lap. "What is the matter?" Vlad practically snapped. He really didn't have the patience for a tear fest or some other such antics. _Honestly, you would think I had told it, it was going to die with how sad it's looking._

By now big blubby tears were rolling down his face. He knew Daddy didn't like when he cried, but he didn't care. Daddy hadn't even liked his gift, and he had worked so hard on it. It had taken him…well he didn't know in grown-up time, but a _really_ long time to make, and now Daddy didn't even care. He heard his Daddy ask him what was wrong, but by now, he was too upset to even tell him. "Yo-you…do-don…even…li…it!" He stuttered out.

Vlad glared down at the blubbering child on his lap. _This is utterly ridiculous. I have a merger to plan, well more like a takeover but still, and the only things this clone can do is whine and distract me._ Vlad was a little more irritable and impatient than usual. The clone had tried to destabilize last night sometime around 3am, and again around 6am. The clone obviously didn't remember those little near melting mishaps, but Vlad did, or more specifically, Vlad's body did. It was paying him back in spades right now; sleeplessness wasn't something he was used to. "D27." Vlad alternated between patting and rubbing its back. "Calm down, I never said I didn't like it. I was just wondering why you were calling it a painting. It isn't you know." Vlad stated matter of factly.

He sniffed and rubbed his face with the back of his hand. Daddy did like his gift. Of course he did, because Daddy loved him. He had just said something wrong again, he was good at that he found. He didn't know a lot of words, so sometimes he said the wrong thing, and it made it harder for Daddy to get. "What it then?"

"What _is_ it you mean." Vlad corrected gently. "A painting is made on a canvas, with certain materials. What you just gave me is more like," Vlad paused in thought. The first word that came to mind was "doodle" or "drawing", but that didn't sound very encouraging, and he didn't need the thing crying on him again. Suddenly the right word came to him. "It's a sketch." He reached for the poorly illustrated scribble and handed it back to the clone. "Sketches are like paintings drawn on paper. They are usually rough drafts of a full painting though, so-" Vlad stopped when he realized he was talking to a two year old, about something he frankly couldn't be paid to give a damn about. He cleared his throat and set the small child, his little art work in hand, back on the ground. "Now how about this? You make me some more of these sketches while Daddy finishes working, and I'll look at all of them after I'm done." He propositioned. _That ought to get it out of my hair for an hour or so._ Vlad mentally congratulated himself and waited for the clone to process the offer.

He was already happier thinking Daddy liked his gift, and now Daddy wanted more of them! He wasn't sure what to make first. He was so happy he almost forgot to answer Daddy. "Yes!" He squealed and nearly ran back over to his play area. There was so much to make. First he would make Ghost Skulker…

Vlad heaved a sigh of relief when in the next five minutes the clone continued to scribble furiously at the paper on the floor near him. If he was lucky, he'd be finished with the last of his reading by the time the clone tuckered itself out for a nap. On his side was the growth spurt, which kept it tired and nearly always ready for sleep. He was surprised it was even up at the moment, it hadn't slept since 8am, and it was now nearly 3pm. It was really a new record for it, and unfortunately left him to be assaulted by its childish whims. _Still, at least it should stay busy for a little while yet._

Vlad hummed as he finished the last his reading nearly an hour later. The clone hadn't made a sound, let alone moved since he told it to draw. _I really should have thought of this earlier. This solved the distraction problem easily. I might have to buy it some art supplies._ Vlad mused. He walked over to the clone after setting his work inside the brief case by his desk. He leaned over the thoroughly distracted clone's play area and watched it work.

He was working really hard on this last one. It was supposed to be a picture of Daddy. He had drawn Ghost Skulker and a picture of place where he slept too. He frowned when he realized he needed a, what was the word? Blue. A blue sketch maker to finish his sketch. There wasn't any around though; he had looked really hard already when he was making the first sketch. He looked up when he felt someone sit next to him. He smiled. Daddy was sitting with him. Maybe he knew where to find the blue sketch maker. "Daddy?" He looked over at his Daddy.

Vlad was completely taken aback. While the first drawing had been terribly crude, he could actually make out what these were supposed to be. There was one of his lab, another of Skulker, and the final one was shaping up to be him. True, they were all scraggly and drawn with wandering lines, but it was close enough he could tell what they were. _That's surprising, an hour ago; he could barely make vague shapes. Interesting, I wonder if-_

"Plasmius."

Vlad was snapped out of his musings by a metallic voice by the door. He looked over his shoulder to find Skulker standing in the doorway to his personal study. "Skulker, how long have you been standing there?" He said while rising from his position on the floor.

"Long enough to be bored." Skulker answered.

"You disappeared yesterday, I was wondering when you'd get back here. Maybe if you said something instead of just standing there, you wouldn't have had the chance to be bored." He had crossed to the fore part of his study and was half way out of the door when a loud whine got his attention.

"Daaadddyy!" He said again. He was ignoring him again, and now for Ghost Skulker. He had been really good too. He hadn't made a sound while he drew his sketches, and Daddy had promised to look at them after he had finished working. And he was finished, he didn't put the paper away until he was; he had said so himself.

Skulker walked past Vlad into the room, and stared down at the clone. "Plasmius, who is this?"

  
"The clone Skulker." Vlad said while rolling his eyes. "I told you I was going to accelerate its growth, and so I did." Really, he had explained this already, and Skulker was no idiot, surely he had understood him the first time.

"This whelp is the clone? I thought it was a baby? Wait, so it grew _this_ much overnight?" Skulker was incredulous to say the least. The clone had been barely able to crawl yesterday afternoon, and now it looked nearly three years of age. He frowned as Vlad joined him by the entrance to the study.

"Indeed." Vlad answered all three questions at once. "It should only take it another two days to reach the age of six. Right now it's around, actually, I haven't bioscanned it in awhile, I might as well do so now." Vlad stepped around Skulker and back into the room. "Maddie dear." Vlad called out to the open space in front of him.

Within a few seconds, a blue spandex clad hologram had appeared in the room. "Yes lamb chops?" The Maddie hologram cooed.

"I need you to run a scan on the clone. Give me its current age, and simplified biological status, I'll peruse the specified data later tonight." Vlad addressed to the floating hologram.

"No problem sweetie." The hologram snapped her fingers and a digital display of the data requested replaced her in the air in front of Vlad.

Vlad quickly looked through the information before turning to talk to Skulker. "Looks like it's currently 26 months of age, it was nearly two around noon, so that's not so bad. Still, it looks like the retardant I inserted into its system this morning is still in effect. It should be 28 months by now if the initial calculations are correct. No matter, that should wear off in another hour or so, with very little delay to its growth." He flicked through another few screens, taking in normal humans vitals alongside not so normal vitals provided by the Nanites. He was about to review the, as far as he knew, dominant ghost vitals when a loud scream startled him.

Daddy wasn't listening at all. He had tried calling his name, but he was too busy looking at the lights in the air. He was doing that and talking to Ghost Skulker, and he was tired of waiting. He had promised! Why didn't he just come over and look at his sketches like he said he would? He was so upset right now, but he didn't want to cry. He had just cried, and it didn't get him what he wanted either. He was…he was… _mad._ That's what he was, and he wanted Daddy to listen to him now. "DADDY!" He screamed and stomped his feet. _Why do Daddy not come over here?_ He wondered.

Vlad stared over at the little clone currently stomping his feet in anger. Its face was bright red and its fists were balled up so tightly, he was sure it would leave crescent shaped marks later. He frowned, and crossed his arms. It was not about to throw a tantrum on him. "D27." He said in the sternest voice he could muster. When it did nothing to impede the coming emotional melt down, he trudged over to its play area. He few seconds later, he was tapping an impatient foot as the clone looked up at him. "D27, stop that. _Right now._ " He looked down at the clone, a firm frown fixed on his face. The clone looked back, tears in its eyes from being practically yelled at, though Vlad couldn't say he cared at the moment. _I swear this creature is so emotionally unstable. Why can't it pick an emotion and stick to it for five seconds and stop being so needy?_

On some level, he recognized he was being unreasonable. Children had a habit of larger mood swings than adults, and they also craved both attention and affection, neither of which he had been giving out over the last couple of hours. But darn it all if its little mood problems weren't beginning to drive him nuts. _Just another reason why children need an accelerate button._ Vlad concluded with a snort.

"Buh, Daddy…"

"No buts." He said in a way that brokered no arguments. Instead of his intended effect, the declaration only did the exact opposite of what he wanted.

The clone started to bawl its eyes out.

He was screaming and crying at this point. Daddy was being so mean and not fair. Daddy said he would play with him later, even look at his sketches, but now he was being yelled at for asking him to. It was completely not fair.

"Oh look Plasmius, you made the little pup cry. You're model father material." Skulker snipped at a very frustrated looking Vlad.

"Oh shut up Skulker, I don't suppose you have any suggestions do you?"

"Yeah actually." Skulker said dryly. "Why don't you make it shut up, and give it a real name?"

"A fantastic idea, but if you didn't know, I was asking for suggestions on how to _make it shut up_." Vlad screamed down at the crying child in front of him. The yelling only caused more tears and unhappy wails however, and Vlad had to resist the urge to cover its mouth with ectoplasm to shunt some of the noise. Vlad turned around towards Skulker with his hands on his hips.

"I don't know Plasmius, it's your kid." Skulker shrugged and crossed his arms. In his opinion, yelling wasn't going to have the desired effect, but what did he know about human cubs?

Vlad huffed and rubbed at the headache forming behind his temples from all the screaming. Just when he was about to go through with that ectoplasm plan, he sensed something amazing. The room filled with very familiar, at least to him, spectral energy. He gasped when it set off his ghost sense, and he whipped around towards the clone.

Its eyes were glowing a familiar green, and the air around it was moving slightly with the increased energy it was pumping out.

"Well would you look at that? It seems all this excitement has finally turned its ghost core on, well at least all that noise wasn't for nothing." Vlad noted before leaning down to pick up the clone. "D27-"

"You are not actually calling it that. Plasmius, that's a horrible name."

"It's an experiment Skulker. Maybe after I'm sure it won't melt, I'll call it Daniel, but for now D27 will suffice." Vlad shifted the still upset child in his grasp, placing it flush against the right side of his body, so he could have his left arm back. He noticed the cries had descended back into the realm of whimpers and hiccups. _Finally._ "D27." He tried again to get its attention; he was rewarded with a tear filled stare in his direction.

He was tired. All this crying had worn him out, and Daddy was going to be angry because he had cried too. He didn't want Daddy to be angry, but if he had just listened before, he wouldn't have cried or screamed or anything. "I'm sorwe Daddy. I don mean to cry. You just prawmissed to play." He sniffed and wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"Don't do that." Vlad scolded and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. He wiped the clone's face off, and watched as the little attention he gave it calmed it completely. Vlad sighed and decided to not set the clone back down. _He's more likely to cry when not being held._ "I'm not angry." _Well not anymore._ He added mentally.

"No?" There was no way Daddy wasn't angry; he didn't like crying at all. He said it made his, what was the word? Brain, made his brain hurt. A headache in his brain Daddy had said.

"No I'm not. I just wanted to know what was wrong." _So I could make the screaming stop._ "If you talk instead of crying or screaming I can fix it. I can't make anything better if I don't know what's wrong." Vlad explained. He noticed the clone yawn and silently thanked whatever god had decided to make the little creature finally get sleepy. "Now come on, it's time for a nap." He walked past Skulker and motioned with his left hand for him to follow. Vlad pulled down on the left football player on his fireplace, and waited for it to open into the stairway leading into the lab.

"Good, because I'm not delaying a second time because the whelp has most of your attention." Skulker grumpily informed Vlad. He followed after his employer when the stairs appeared.

"If it wasn't so damn needy, and what do you mean a second time? You ran off yesterday if I recall correctly."

"You must have spent a good half an hour in the back part of the lab before I came back to see what keeping you. I don't know if you got sucked into some kind of time warp or something, because you didn't even notice that much time had passed. Even worse, you must have gone temporarily deaf as well, because I stomped my way back there, and you didn't even complain. When I got back into the rear part of the lab," Skulker began to explain, "you were still holding the clone, so I decided to come back today."

Skulker and Vlad passed into the back part of the lab.

"Don't tell me you were so distracted you didn't notice me leaving? Is the clone that entrancing?" Skulker teased lightly.

Vlad set the lightly dozing clone into his bed, and turned back towards Skulker. "Hardly. Perhaps if you came and talked to people, instead of lurking in doorways, you might not have had that problem. Now about that information I sent you to get…" Vlad walked back towards the front part of the lab, Skulker in tow.

 

* * *

 

Vlad was back in the lab. It was the middle of the night, nearly 2am. He couldn't sleep. After Skulker had left, the clone had destabilized once again, much more seriously this time. That had been hours ago, but it still weighed heavily on his mind. So he had decided to go through the data from earlier today. Despite the destabilizing episodes, the clone's DNA was looking great. The last episode was likely prompted by its newly awakened ghost powers rather than anything on its human side. _I'll have to examine that later tomorrow, er today._ Vlad thought blearily. He was about to get up for the night, when a frightened scream got his attention.

The clone shot up in bed and blindly groped around for a few seconds before getting its bearings.

He had seen such bad things. There was a monster chasing him in the dark. It was super scary, and worse of all, Daddy hadn't come to save him. That had never happened before, and he really wanted his Daddy to be here right now. Just in case the monster from his bad dream came back to get him again. "Daddy?" He called out into the dark around him.

Vlad sighed when he heard the clone call to him. It might not have known he was here, but he couldn't just leave it alone in the dark before checking to see if it was alright. He walked over to the bed and crouched down next to it. "Yes?"

He looked over to the side of the bed not next to the wall. Daddy was right next to him! He didn't know how Daddy did it, but like magic he was always there. "I had bad dream." He reached out for Daddy, wanting to be held.

Vlad scooped up the clone and walked back over to the arm chair he had rocked it in just yesterday as an infant. "What was it about?" He sat down in the soft plush piece of furniture as the clone began a disturbingly vivid tale about being eaten alive. "That sounds…" _horrifying,_ "very scary D27, but you don't have to worry, it was just a dream. Nothing is going to eat you." He rubbed reassuring circles on its back as it leaned into his chest.

He felt a lot better now that Daddy was holding him. The monsters could still eat him though, even though Daddy said they couldn't. "You mean it?" He asked. He could feel his eyes go wide and get watery at the thought of the bad monsters eating him again.

"Yes I promise D27, no one is going to hurt you with me around. Not ghosts, not monsters, no one." Vlad watched as the clone settled bonelessly into his body, all the tension from the nightmare leaving it.

  
"Now go back to sleep, I'll be right here." He got up from the chair and began to walk back towards the bed.

"NO! If you leave the monsters will eat me." He was sure of it. His Daddy was the only thing keeping the monsters away.

Vlad sighed and sat back into the chair. He didn't bother arguing the point. The clone was too tired for logic, and too little for it to really work to begin with. So instead, he picked out a favorite lullaby from his childhood, and hummed it while patting its back. He was sure this would send it to sleep. And in a matter of minutes, he was rewarded with the soft breaths of a person in deep slumber. He walked back over to the clone's bed, and placed it inside. He wouldn't be too far for the next 36 hours or so. The possibility of the clone melting was too great, and its DNA was the best looking so far. Vlad decided to make a compromise of sorts, and moved the chair next to the clone's bed.

 _No reason not to be comfortable if I have to be here._ Vlad reasoned. As he watched it sleep, he was stuck with how fragile and human it looked. Even though he told himself not to get attached, with such a human and cute form, it was becoming rather difficult. Worse, despite the crying and whining, it was an amazingly endearing creature. He found his hand running through the already nearly shoulder length dark hair on its head.

The clone sighed and leaned towards his touch.

Vlad closed his eyes for a comfortable rest of his own. He stilled his hand running through his- _its_ hair and settled back for sleep. Maybe if he said it was an experiment again, he would actually believe himself this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The untold story of a previous clone in Vlad's cloning attempts, specifically that "perfect" clone that dissolved at the end of Kindred Spirits. Also, I started a writing blog, so if anyone wants to follow along as I post excerpts from upcoming chapters or come ask me questions uh that's the best place.
> 
> Blog: https://balshumetsbaragouin.tumblr.com/


	2. Making Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D27 learns some ghost tricks, bonds with a reluctant Vlad, and plays a prank or two.

Vlad sat silently looking through the clear Plexiglas window. He was getting a wealth of data at the moment, but nothing truly unexpected. In fact, there was barely anything remarkable about it, the data looking almost completely human. He had been sure his experiment would have been doing better by now. After it started producing energy, when its core turned on, he expected it to be able to transform. However, it seemed that it either couldn't sustain the constant level of energy necessary to maintain a spectral form, or its core was only on intermittently. In either case, it meant the creature was behind on Vlad's time table, and that was unacceptable. He pushed away from the data console and walked directly into its line of sight. Maybe he had been premature in his assessment of its potential?

This was so hard, but he had to try. He had been at it for the last two hours, but nothing seemed to let him do what Daddy wanted. Daddy had asked him to…transform. To transform into a spectral something or other. D27 couldn't remember the exact phrase, but basically his Daddy wanted him to turn into a ghost. He panted as his second attempt in so many minutes failed. He felt something inside him ache as he pulled at the cold part inside of him his Daddy had said was his ghost half. Nothing worked, but he had to keep trying.

Vlad frowned over at the data on the screen. It seemed the clone's core wasn't developed enough to hold a spectral form. From what he was seeing, it was performing the right action, but its core wouldn't turn on all the way. At least not long enough to initiate a transformation. The older halfa scowled. There was nothing to compare this data too, so he didn't know whether or not this was normal development, slow development, or even if the brat just wasn't trying hard enough. Vlad started as the new ream of data flew into the computer. The clone's core was showing signs of extreme fatigue. _I'd better tell that thing to stop before it hurts itself._ Vlad concluded while heading to the lower part of the observation room he'd constructed.

The ache was growing stronger now, and the pain left him panting and shaking. Worse though, was the very bitter taste of failure. Daddy would be so upset with him for not transforming like he was told. D27 placed his hands on his knees and leaned over to catch his breath. Before he could stop himself from gasping, he heard the door to the room open. He looked over to find his Daddy walking towards him, a frown planted firmly on his face. _I hope I'm not in trouble._

"Alright D27, that's enough." Vlad strode over to the winded clone. It was barely on the upper side of three at the moment, though it certainly didn't act it. Admittedly, he'd handed it a dictionary a few hours ago to keep it out of his hair while he set up the training room systems, _and_ to give it practice reading while, hopefully, curing some of its verbal mishaps. But even assuming it was a fast study, that didn't account for some of the changes in behavior and ability. He was beginning to have particular thoughts about the clone strengthened. However, at the moment, he just needed the little creature to desist before it hurt itself.

"But Daddy, I didn't transform yet." He was confused. Daddy had been very clear when he left to go into the upstairs room. He had to turn into a ghost, but he hadn't done that yet. So why was he asking him to stop?

"Yes I'm well aware, but it seems your core isn't as developed as I supposed. You aren't going to be able to transform for a while yet, perhaps another day or two." Vlad paused and turned over the thought in his mind for a moment. Another day would make the clone around six years of age.

"Oh." D27 was very sad about that. He had wanted to turn into a ghost for more than one reason. Yes, he wanted to make Daddy happy, but being a ghost looked so very cool. He wanted to have powers and everything too.

Vlad watched with muted interest as the clone's face dropped into a frown. It was looking like it was going to cry _again._ He had to admit, while it cried plenty, it put up with a lot of non-attentiveness from him, and that was likely directly correlated to its crying. The only question was how to cheer it up before it started blubbering again. It was because he hated how much noise its crying made, not because he hated seeing it upset. He didn't care if it was upset; only if it was annoying. _Ah._ Vlad concluded after brief contemplation. _This ought to help._ "How about I demonstrate some ghost powers for you? Last time I only explained how to transform. In fact, even if you can't transform, you might be able to use some of these powers, as they are available even in human form." Vlad noted with triumph the way the clone's face lit back up.

Just as he was feeling upset enough to ask for something to draw with, Daddy said he would do the best thing ever. Having powers was exciting, and even if he couldn't transform yet, he was glad his Daddy was willing to teach him how to do something else. "Yes, I'd like that a lot." D27 smiled, sat back, and waited to see how more ghost powers worked.

Vlad look down at the clone's completely attentive face. It was wide eyed and bright, eager and ready to learn anything. _A vast improvement of Daniel's typical temperament when interacting with me._ "Now D27, the first power I'm going to show you is invisibility. Do you remember what invisible means?"

"Yes Daddy. That which cannot be seen. Out of sight; not apparent." D27 answered immediately. He had taken to reading the dictionary after Daddy taught him the basics of reading a few hours ago. Even after his Daddy had tried to get his attention on something Daddy said was "more suitable entertainment for a child your age." Whatever that meant, it ended up with him with a much smaller and more boring book in his hands. _But at least it had pretty pictures._ D27 concluded. In any case, it had certainly made it easier for him to talk to Daddy.

"Yes very good." Vlad responded to the dictionary perfect answer. "Among ghosts' many powers is the ability to become invisible to the naked eye. They do this by refracting visible light around their being. Creating a force field of energy that bends the light away from their person, and so removes the ability of the light to reflect off of their person and into the eye of the would be observer. Naturally, the force field of energy they use to do this is invisible to the human eye as well, resulting in complete invisibility." A day ago Vlad wouldn't have bothered with such an expansive and detailed explanation, but at the moment, he was testing a theory. Vlad raised an eyebrow waiting for the clone to paraphrase the concepts like he had instructed him to do earlier with others.

"Yes, the energy is invisible and bends the light, and therefore ghosts themselves are invisible." D27 had taken to repeating the concepts he learned back to his Daddy. That way if he didn't understand something, he'd get the confusion solved quickly, now instead of later. _Though, Daddy has been laughing less, so maybe it's not so good._

"Correct D27. So now that you understand the mechanics of the process, I'm going to show you how to physically perform the trick." Vlad stepped forward and placed his hands, palms facing it, in front of the clone. "Now I'm going to start with something simple, just my hands. I want you to just watch me do it first, and then I'll show you what it feels like. Finally, I want you to give it a try unaided, are we clear?" Vlad paused and looked the little clone in the eye, to make sure it was still paying attention.

"Yes Daddy, I understand." He blinked as his father dropped down to his eye level and turned his hands invisible. It was really cool. One second they were there, and the next, they were completely see-through.

Vlad held his hands invisible for a few seconds before making them visible again. "Alright. Now place your hands against mine, and I'll show you what it feels like." He waited for the clone to comply, pondering over another interesting aspect about the creature. It could learn to use its powers by simply observing or, at other times, being in contact with another being using those same powers. That was how he taught it to transform, all he had to do was hold it while he transformed, and _presto_ the little bugger knew how to do it too. It was like a sponge for some matters. The clone placed its starkly smaller hands against his own and tapped its feet in excitement. Vlad suppressed the urge to chuckle at its excited antics. He quickly turned his hands invisible and shifted the invisibility onto the clone's hands as well.

The cool tingle of ghost powers swept over his hands. Right after the feeling passed, his hands disappeared from sight. They were invisible all the way up to his wrists. D27 stared in wonder at the invisible section of his own arms before they suddenly reappeared when Daddy moved his hands back.

"Now, I want you to give invisibility a try. Try to remember what turning the power on and off felt like, and replicate that." Vlad paused before saying, "You do know what replicate means right?" Sometimes he forgot the clone was only two days old literally, and three and a half years in human terms from the accelerated growth.

"Yes Daddy. To fold; bend back. Or in this case, the act of repeating, duplicating, copying, or reproducing." D27 knit his eyebrows in concentration as he tried to repeat the feeling from the opposite direction. He had learned he had to push the feeling of his ghost powers from inside, near his chest, to where he wanted to go, and not the other way around like he felt Daddy do it. He had to…mirror, that was the word, and the actions he had felt and not exactly copy them. D27 fumbled around for the feeling he remembered, reaching for the cool pool in his chest and pushing it outward. He brought the tingling feeling to his finger tips, and then worked it back towards his wrist, just like Daddy had showed him.

Vlad watched the clone exercise an admirable level of spectral energy control. It had pulled a small amount of spectral energy to the end of its hands before trying to turn them invisible. He had expected the first attempt to be sloppy, haphazard, and most of all quick. The clone's first attempt was none of these things, and it solidified another piece of the puzzle surrounding the clone's abilities.

The cold feeling got stronger until he felt it suddenly stop all together. D27 had closed his eyes to concentrate, but now that the feeling of his ghost powers had abruptly ended, he curiously opened his eyes to peer down at his hands. He could see right through them! If he couldn't feel his own hands at the ends of his wrist, he'd be sure they were gone, or never there to begin with. In the few seconds it took to gap at his own invisible hands, D27 lost concentration, and the whole effect failed.

"Very good! You got it on the first try." Vlad quickly congratulated. "I knew you could do it. Why don't you practice holding it a little longer before we move onto something else?" He was secretly much more impressed than he let on. Even if the power of invisibility was basic, it had used it in a completely controlled manner, something that took _him_ a few months to do. _Perhaps being "born" with these powers makes using them more natural?_ Vlad considered while he watched the clone make a second attempt at controlling its invisibility powers.

D27 beamed at the encouragement and praise. He closed his eyes to focus once more and started the whole process over again, though this time it went a little faster. He felt the tingles work up from his fingers tips, but it didn't stop until it reached his elbows this time. When he opened his eyes, it looked like he had no lower arms; they were entirely invisible. D27 held it for a few seconds longer than the first time, before his chest started to hurt again, and his arms popped back into existence when the pain grew sharper. He rubbed the sore achy spot in his middle before looking back up at Daddy. "Why does it hurt?"

Vlad sighed before answering, "It's not supposed to, but your ghost core is probably tired from earlier when you were trying to transform. When you don't have the energy you use your ghost powers, it'll strain your core to make more, and that can be anywhere to uncomfortable to painful, depending on the level of stress you are putting on it." He frowned before continuing, "It doesn't hurt a lot does it?"

D27 shook his head. "Not anymore, but before it um…when I was trying to transform into… ghost." He answered distracted, wiggling his now visible fingers, before turning them invisible again. _This is fun though. No wonder Ghost Skulker is always sneaking up on me while invisible._

"We should probably stop for the day; I don't want you over-stressing your ghost core." _Or trying to melt on me either._ Vlad added mentally. The clone had tried to melt just hours before in the early morning around 3am, and it seemed the worst melting mishaps were always well before his brain wanted to function at full capacity.

"What? No! We just got started." He whined. "Please please please! Just a little bit more, oh pl-"

"D27, do _not_ whine. I hate that sound, and no, I don't want you hurting yourself." Vlad huffed and narrowed his eyes at the clone. _Once again,_ _so glad for that inserted acceleration button._

He didn't want to disobey his Daddy, but he _really_ wanted to learn more about ghost powers. _Maybe if I ask enough times, he'll say yes._ "But Daddy…" He started in the whiniest voice he could muster, "I really _really_ want to learn more ghost powers. Can't you super pretty please-"

"Stop it…"

"With a big heaping pile of sugar and-"

"D27 desist this instant."

"Hug and kisses and-"

"Enough!" Vlad screamed at the clone a few feet away. He only felt more frustrated when it stared up at him with big shining eyes, looking like it was about to burst into tears. _Deep calming breaths…deep calming breaths. Do not let this thing get under your skin._ He took one more shuttering breath before saying, "Listen D27, Daddy is sorry he yelled at you, but that _infernal_ …" Vlad stopped when he saw the big sad looking tears rolling down the clone's cheeks. _Ok, new rule, yelling at the clone only makes it upset. It is not like most things, where yelling makes them more effective._ "Listen, I'll teach you _one_ more power today, and then that's it. Then you are going to stop for today alright?" Not that the thing really had a choice in the matter, but if he gave it the appearance of a choice, maybe it would behave.

D27 sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Rully?" He asked in a shaky stress filled voice.

"Yes _really._ Now," Vlad bent over and began wiping the remaining tears from its face, "how about I teach you how to use intangibility?"

He perked up completely at the offer. The only thing that would be better would be transforming into a ghost like Daddy. "Oh yes! Please!" D27 smiled widely before remembering he was supposed to be paying attention. With sudden seriousness and extreme effort, he schooled his face into the picture of attentiveness.

This time Vlad couldn't suppress a laugh at the clone's behavior. He held out a hand when its face melded into a small frown. "Oh no D27, I'm not laughing at you. I promise. Now the technicalities for how intangibility is possible are rather…" _Involved? Difficult? Way over your little head?_ "Hard to grasp. So I'll skip it for the moment."

He had to stop himself from begging to hear it anyway. Even if he didn't understand something right away, he remembered everything, so he might later. But he wanted to learn how to use his ghost powers, and if he interrupted Daddy, he might not get a chance today, so it would have to wait. D27 realized his Daddy was waiting for him to show he was listening, so he nodded.

"So I'll demonstrate this power just like I did invisibility, but in this case, I'm going to need something solid for you to practice on, so follow me." Vlad turned on his heel and walked towards one of the training room's tables nearby. He stood to one side of it and waited for the clone to settle in next to him. When he was sure it was paying attention, he pressed his hand against the table top. "Now the power of intangibility lets ghosts move through solid objects. Do you remember the definition of intangible?" This time he was asking to test out a specific theory on the clone's memory and learning speed.

"Yes Daddy, that which cannot be touched, incorporeal, impalpable." He answered as if reading out off of a book page.

_Just as I thought, its learning speed is keeping pace with his accelerated physical growth._ Vlad turned back to the table and phased his hand through the table surface. He slowly brought it back up, making sure the clone was focusing on how it looked. _Not that I'd have to worry about that with how focused it's looking at the moment._ He placed his now solid hand back on the top of the table. "Now D27, I want you to put your hand over mine, and I'm going to phase both of our hands through the table, so you can feel how it works." Vlad waited for the clone to follow the simple instructions, and spared a glance at his watch. Skulker was going to be here soon. He hadn't thought testing the clone's skills would take this long, so unfortunately, this training session was going to have to be cut short. Still, he needed to confirm a few things with the hunter before he could move forward with his newest plan. It had taken enough effort to get the Skeleton Key, so he had no intention of delaying for any reason except for a complete lack of information.

He had his hand over his Daddy's for a whole minute before it looked like he noticed. He was, what was the word…distracted?, by something else, though he couldn't guess what. Suddenly, his Daddy was focusing on him again, and he forgot all about Daddy not paying attention. Daddy said something about watching, so he looked down at his now, invisible-no it was still there, just kinda sparkly- hand. It went all the way through the table and then back up, a new tingly feeling coming from his hand as it did so.

"Alright, now I want you to try. Just do what I did, and you should be fine." Admittedly, Vlad wasn't fully engaged at the moment. He was busy calculating the rate of its growth against the increase in its vocabulary, reasoning skills, and other signs of intelligence. As far as he could tell, the clone's mental growth was keeping pace with or easily out pacing its physical growth. Some of it was expected, as its brain grew, so did its mental abilities, but the sponge like way its memory worked and its ability to synthesize new information was completely unusual. _Perhaps it responds to mental environmental stimuli more strongly than physical ones? If that's the case, the more it's exposed to new information, the faster it will learn._ The scientist in him had been so deeply involved, he hadn't noticed the clone struggling and failing to phase its hand through the table.

He'd been trying to get his hand through the lab table for the last several seconds, but nothing he tried seemed to work. He was about to ask for more help, when his Daddy spoke up.

"Having trouble are you? Ok, how about this. Instead of just pouring energy into your hand, try to concentrate on being untouchable. Objects can pass right through you. Try thinking about that when you use your ghost powers." Vlad guided before turning his thoughts back to another interesting gorgon's knot about the clone.

_Untouchable. I'm not here, I'm not solid, um, nothing can touch me._ He thought while focusing his spectral energy into the palm of his hand. His hand shimmered and started to slip through the table. Unfortunately, he got so excited that he lost concentration mid-way through, and his hand solidified inside the table. "Ah! No, don't!" D27 cried trying to tug his stuck hand from inside the table.

The clone's screaming brought him out of his reverie with a start. "Hm? Oh! Stop that, you're going to hurt yourself." Vlad reached over and grabbed the creature by the wrist. "If you get stuck inside something, just tugging won't get it out; you have to use intangibility again." He explained while using his own powers to extricate the clone's hand from the table. _Though that's sometimes easier said than done._ Vlad thought as memories of trying to get his own errant limbs from inside walls or furniture in the hospital came to mind.

"Well, well Plasmius. It has had ghost power all of eighteen hours, and it's already getting stuck in things. Maybe you should do a better job training the pup?" Skulker called from his place near the entrance to the training room. He'd watched as his employer barely taught the ghostling how to use its intangibility powers, mind apparently elsewhere.

"Oh Skulker, good," Vlad started while allowing the clone's now freed hand to solidify without the influence of his powers, "just the person I needed to talk to. D27, why don't you go upstairs to viewing area for the room and wait for me? I'll just be a second." He finished with a 'shooing' motion towards the exit of the room. One had to walk out the room to get to the stairs leading to the viewing portion of the training room with the data gathering computers. He didn't worry about the clone messing with the computer systems up there, they were all voice activated, and its voice wouldn't work the computers.

D27 frowned at being so quickly pushed away. He'd thought for sure, his Daddy would at least check to see he knew how to use the last power he'd tried to show him, but it looked like he didn't even care. "But-" He started before stopping short when he realized his Daddy wasn't even looking in his direction any more. It was pointless. He heaved a large sigh and started towards the door to the training room. He passed the stairs to the viewing room barely stopping to glance up them before deciding to walk around instead. He hadn't been very many place outside of the place where he slept or Daddy's, what was?-study, and he wanted to look around some more. He passed several doors. He quickly tried looking into them and found those rooms either full of boring looking furniture, or just plain empty. After the random searching didn't provide any fun, D27 decided to head back to his Daddy's study. He had some stuff to draw with in there. Something was pulling at his mind's eye to draw anyway. Last night, he'd seen the sun go down for the first time. It was so cool to look at, they sky had been red and orange and all kinds of other pretty colors. Naturally, he had rushed to find his sketching tools and made a rough picture of what the sky had looked like the night before.

At the moment he was sitting on the floor of his Daddy's study redrawing the efforts from last night. Now that he could sit still and think about it, D27 could remember all of the details, and the picture he'd quickly scribbled before didn't come close to how it looked in his head. So, there was no choice but to redo the entire thing, from memory this time, and without the distraction of watching it actually happening and the coolness of it all. _I wonder how long it'll be before Daddy notices I'm not in the upstairs room._ He thought with a small amount of anger. If the pattern was like he was used to, it would be hours. _It doesn't matter though; I have a lots of sketch makers and hours before bed time._ D27pondered before returning to his picture to pass the time.

 

* * *

 

He met his Daddy a little before the dining room opening. He'd come racing down the stairs after one of the maids had told him dinner was ready. She'd apparently checked every room before finding him in the study, somewhere she wasn't supposed to go without permission. _I wonder why?_ D27 thought as he bounded down the stairs full of energy. If it was anything like yesterday, it meant it was the only time he'd have his Daddy's full attention. No Ghost Skulker to hold his attention, no big business stuff to take care of, just him and Daddy for an hour or so before bed. Even though dinner was later than it was the day before, and it felt like his tummy was going to start growling like one of those big cats on the TV, it would be worth the wait to have his Daddy all to himself.

"Ah D27, good. I thought I might have to send someone for you." Vlad said as he met up with the clone a little before the dining room entrance. He'd left the thing several hours back, wanting to finalize some plans for the Ghost Zone with Skulker before it got any later. Between his work with the ghost hunter and his own distracted perusal of the data from the clone over the last 24 hours, diner was starting well over an hour and a half late. Still, he was done for the most part for the moment, only waiting on a call from his secretary to confirm the merger/hostile take-over was under way. Vlad settled into his place at the head of the table in front of a delicious looking medium rare rib eye steak, thick and creamy mashed potatoes, and a pile of peas.

The food in front of him didn't look all the good, and his chest still hurt from earlier that day. _I guess Daddy was right about using too much power._ D27 thought as he began to distractedly push food around his plate. He swallowed down some peas, before starting in on what he'd wanted to talk about all day since he'd seen the sun go down the day before. "So Daddy-" His sentence was interrupted by a loud ringing sound.

Vlad picked up his cell phone before it got to the third ring. He had been expecting a call from the Dalvco branch office for the last hour. _And of course they call right when I sit down for dinner._ Vlad noted with a roll of his eyes. "Yes, I'm here Cynthia. Do you have the last of the merger documents prepared?"

He had been about to talk about his day after he'd left Daddy in the lab with Skulker, when the pocket phone rang. As usual, Daddy was ignoring him for something or someone he thought was more important. He tried not to get discouraged, but sometimes he'd like it if he was the center of attention. "Daddy?"

"Shush. I'm busy right now. What? No Cynthia I'm not talking to you. So you're faxing over the documents now? Alright I'll get to them immediately, no no; I hadn't started yet, so it's fine." Vlad stood up smoothly from the head of the dining room table and began striding for the exit. "Oh," he held his hand over the phone, "D27, I have something I need to take care of really fast. You go on and start without me, I'll be right back." Vlad said over his shoulder already half-way up the stairs.

D27 pouted and began pushing his food half-heartedly around his plate again. _And Daddy promised to eat dinner with me too._ There just had to be some way to get his attention. Five minutes passed with him turning his mashed potatoes into a miniature volcano, complete with gravy lava and peas for boulders. _So boring. Maybe I can practice with my ghost powers._ He decided before trying out invisibility again. D27 quickly started turning his food and silverware invisible, but when that also proved dull, he started in on the glasses on the table. Seeing water "float" in the air was cool for a little while longer, but all of it eventually lost appeal, so he moved onto intangibility. Now, his hands turned intangible and everything just slipped through them. _No fun._ D27 concluded before getting up from his seat at the table. He walked around the room to Daddy's position at the table, wanting to "borrow" some nice looking lettuce pieces from his salad to sculpt with. He reached over for the fork, only to accidentally use his intangibility powers.

The fork went sailing through his fingers, and still having some spectral energy left, went part-way through the tablecloth as well. It stuck out at an odd thirty-five degree angle from the dining room table itself, partially imbedded when the intangibility wore off.

_Uh oh!_ D27 started trying to tug the fork out of its unnatural upright position. To no avail; it was stuck fast. He began to panic, the last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with his Daddy, and having the silverware coming out of the table would do it! When more pulling didn't seem to be getting him anywhere, the quickly growing child calmed down some and started thinking of his Daddy's words when his hand had gotten stuck earlier. _Well if ghost powers got it in there, maybe it can get it out._ He concentrated on the cool feeling inside his chest and pushed it out to his finger tips. Next he thought of being untouchable, like his Daddy had told him to. He watched as he fingers first drained of color, then turned invisible, and finally stopped feeling anything all together. D27 slowly reached out for the table in front of him, and was rewarded with his fingers passing cleanly through the solid wood.

He smiled at the soft tingle going through his fingers and reached for the fork stuck inside the table. The fork quickly turned intangible as well, slipping from inside the table and back out into D27's hand. Unfortunately, he was pulling so hard though, that he nearly fell over onto his rear. Fork now in hand, the young child almost wandered back to his place at the table when he got an idea. _Daddy left me all alone again. I think I'll make it up to him for leaving me…_ He walked back over to the opposite side of the table; fork still in hand, before setting it back in its place by the rest of the silverware. D27 stole a quick glance towards the entrance to the dining room before enacting his hastily thought out plan. It barely took any concentration this time to call forth his intangibility powers, so he was able to do so with his eyes open. He reached a shimmering incorporeal hand towards the large diner plate in front of him determination clear on his face. With only a second hesitation, he touched a single finger to the edge of the plate.

At first, nothing happened, the plate remained solid. After a moment though, the edge closest to his finger began to lose its creamy color, changing into the distinctly opaque shade of something cast with spectral energy. The taint spread from the original edge, downward, to the base of the ceramic piece. Slowly, the opaqueness spread all around the base, and back up the other side, meeting with the rest of it that had skittered across the upward facing part of the surface.

D27 wrapped his little hand around the lip of the lip and carefully lowered it through the table cloth and into the table. He quickly stopped using his ghost powers when the plate had reached the wanted depth.

It was imbedded into the table cloth and table, but it still looked like it was sitting on top of it, only the raised bottom of the expensive ceramic plate stuck inside the dining room furniture.

He smiled at how well his trick had succeeded, before performing a matching set of tricks on the glass and the salt and pepper shakers. Suddenly, he heard someone coming back towards the dining room. With hurried footsteps, he pushed away from his Daddy's side of the table and raced back towards his own, settling into the seat just as he heard someone end a conversation.

"Alright, thank you Cynthia. I'll see you back in the office in a few days, no; no I'll be alright just some family matters to take care of. I'll call you back later wanting an update on the merger." Vlad clicked the cell phone shut and stuffed it back into his pants pocket. A side-long glance across the room was met with a very quiet clone, still sitting at the table. Other than some playful food sculpting, it looked like his plate hadn't been touched. "D27, did I not tell you to start without me. I know you must be hungry." _You are practically eating enough for two grown men at the moment. God knows where you put it all._

He gave Daddy his brightest smile. "I didn't want to start without you." If he hadn't smiled, he'd be laughing thinking about the little…what was-joke that he was about to play on his Daddy. He was sure Daddy wouldn't think it was funny, but he sure did.

Vlad gave the clone a small smile back before settling back into his place at the head of the table. "That's very nice of you, but you didn't have to do that. I've been gone for nearly 15 minutes, and I'm sure you're starving." He picked up his fork and started in on his own meal.

"Maybe, but I wanted to talk to you." D27 kicked his feet under the table, excited for whenever Daddy figured out his trick. _But I can't give it away by looking too wiggly!_ He thought before plunging into what he had wanted to say earlier. "I really like the croyans and pencils you got for me"

"Crayons." Vlad corrected gently.

"Yeah those thingies. I like them. I'm making a really pretty-um sketch of the sky when the sun went to sleep."

"Sunset."

"Yeah that! I'm not done with it yet, but I was thinking-"

"Yes that's very nice D27." Vlad said with a dismissive wave, spooning up some mashed potatoes. "Have you been practicing your ghost powers? I noticed you weren't in the viewing room like I told you to be earlier, so I assume you went somewhere to continue practicing with them."

He frowned at being interrupted, and at a time he shouldn't _have_ to be. But suddenly, the trick with his ghost powers came back to mind, and he felt a slow mischief filled smile work across his lips. "Oh yes Daddy, I have been. In fact, I think I'm getting better." He watched with growing excitement as his Daddy reached for the water filled glass nearest to him.

"That's wonderful." Vlad praised absently, half way to his glass of water next to his diner plate. He began lifting it up…only to find it wouldn't budge! Another tug had the exact same result, only this time the table cloth moved slowly with it. "What in the…?" He quickly turned the glass intangible to extricate it from the table. "Well that's odd, I don't recall…" _Well it's not like that's the first time something's ended up stuck in walls or furniture._

"Daddy, could you pass the pepper?" He was barely holding back giggles at this point. It was really too easy.

"The pepper?" Vlad questioned confused. Kids weren't known for having the most varied palettes and had even less tolerance for spice.

"Please? I just want to know what it tastes like…" He trailed off watching the hand snaked out and grabbed the pepper.

Just like the glass of water, the pepper was stuck fast. A few experimental tugs found it not just stuck in the table cloth, but through to the table as well. Vlad's head whipped around from the mysteriously steadfast pepper shaker to the giggling clone a few feet from him. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the clone's level of control of powers it just learned hours before, or his lack of irritation at the trick it had just made him the unwitting victim of. "I see, so I suppose this," he said while gesturing to the rest of his side of the table, now sure it was also equally ensnared, "is your doing?"

D27 gripped his aching tummy, another fit of giggles escaping out of his mouth. It'd had taken a lot to hold them all back before. "Yup!" He stifled another set of giggles and pushed away from the table. "And for my final trick," he reached for the table cloth and focused. He felt the tingle of cool spectral energy travel from his core to his hands and into the cloth. With on hard yank, he pulled the now untouchable cloth off of the wooden piece revealing his earlier handiwork. "Tada!" He said with a wave of the cloth through the air, partially wrapped around his middle, somehow having gotten tangled during the removal process.

Vlad glanced down at the table noting with the growing warmth of approval the partially imbedded salt and pepper shakers and his dinner plate. "Very good, very good indeed. I see you _have_ improved. I suppose I do deserve a little of this for leaving you alone-"

"And igsnoring me for Ghost Skulker earlier."

" _Ignoring_ , and yes for that too I suppose." Vlad said while slipping from his seat and walking towards the clone's side of the room. He watched as it sleepily rubbed at its eyes. The older hybrid leaned over and picked up the still giggling and wriggling clone, removing the wrapped table cloth with a bit of intangibility. "Come on its time for bed, it's already almost 8:30 since we started dinner so late." He felt the clone wrap his thin little arms around his neck and settle against his body. Vlad frowned at the still nearly full plate of food on its side of the table. "Did you eat anything?" He wondered into its dark locks, the clone's head currently trying to snuggle deeper under his chin.

"Nuh, I had some cow and the green round thingies." D27 answered in a slur, nearly asleep.

Vlad's frown deepened. The clone usually ate a lot more than that. In fact, whenever it decided it wasn't hungry, a few minutes to an hour later, it was trying to melt. The lack of eating wasn't really the best of signs; however, it might have just been emotionally based. _I hope._ He didn't feel like dealing with another melting emergency at the moment. The elder halfa started down the steps to his secret lab. The clone still slept in there, and probably would until the fastest part of his growing stage was finished. That meant another day or so in the lab; however, he already had a bedroom upstairs ready for it to move into after he was sure it was more stable. Vlad set the already nodding off clone onto its bed in the lab, moving away from the bedside almost immediately.

"Wait…" D27 reached blindly out towards where he'd last felt his Daddy. He didn't want to sleep alone in the, what did Daddy call it? The _laboratory_ or something like that. Such a big word for the place he slept. It was cold and metally though, the monsters could be back from last night, and so he didn't want his Daddy to leave him just yet. "Can't stay here…with 'till sleep?" He knew that didn't make much sense, but he was so tired from using his powers all day that he couldn't manage much better.

Vlad eyed the comfy arm chair that was quickly becoming a favorite of his next to the work console in this part of the lab. His secretary wasn't going to be expecting a call until early tomorrow morning; Skulker was off collecting the last of the information on the Ancients he'd asked for, and he really had nothing to do at the moment. _And it asked so nicely too._ Vlad thought with a small mental sigh before heading over to scoot the armchair closer.

He heard the soft scuffing of movement for a few seconds before it stopped and he could feel someone close by. D27 opened a bleary sleep weighted eye and turned his head towards the noise. His Daddy was only a few feet away, in the big comfy chair and a big grown up book, the kind with the big words and small letters. He smiled before closing his barely opened eye and settling in for a good long sleep.

Vlad paused in reading through his book to glance down at the now sleeping clone. It looked to fragile, even more so than usual, when it slept, and with the threat of a melt-down looming, he didn't want to leave its side. He sighed and settled in for another few hours of sleep in the semi-upright position of the arm chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transferring this over chapter by chapter from Fanfiction.net is a lot more annoying than I thought. Luckily, I'm nearing the end of having to do that for stories so woo me.
> 
> I started a writing blog! And if anyone wants to follow along with the story has new pieces are written in semi-real time, I'll be posting excerpts from upcoming chapters there soon!
> 
> Writing Blog: https://balshumetsbaragouin.tumblr.com/


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